


Too Late To Beg You

by nothingwithoutyouxo



Category: I Am Not Okay with This (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Canon Compliant, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23256103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingwithoutyouxo/pseuds/nothingwithoutyouxo
Summary: There's a body on the floor of the gym and all Stanley knows is that he has to find Sydney.(Think of this as an epilogue to 1x07)
Relationships: Dina/Sydney Novak, Stanley Barber & Dina, Stanley Barber & Dina & Sydney Novak, Stanley Barber & Sydney Novak
Comments: 5
Kudos: 110





	Too Late To Beg You

**Author's Note:**

> So I watched this entire show in one day, and then I found myself needing to write this. It's sort of like a brief continuation, I guess? I think I took about one artisic liberty for the drama of it all, but this fits into the show canon pretty well. Anyways, the title is from Killing Moon because that song makes me feel some kind of way and hearing it in this show was a blessing.

The world was buzzing around him as Stanley started to come back to his senses on the floor of the gymnasium. He tried to push through the haze and remember what the hell had happened and how he’d ended up here. There was a sharp, familiar pain around his eye, and he rubbed at it absently. It came back to him in pieces, Brad grabbing the mic and wrestling to hold onto it as he rounded on Sydney. Stanley’s blood ran hot just at the thought, and he wished he’d been able to hold his ground instead of being knocked to the floor.

As everything started to fall back into place, the buzzing slowly morphed into something louder. Voices shouting around him, footsteps crashing against the hard linoleum. Stanley forced his eyes open, squinting at the sudden light and looked around him. People were fleeing. His breath stuttered to his halt when he realised why. There was a body on the floor. 

_ Oh fuck, is that? _ It was. Of course it was. The letterman jacket was unmistakable. Brad was dead on the floor not too far away from him, and Stanley had missed it entirely. 

Something else caught his eye, a flash of blue, a cat with a mermaid tail. It was Sydney’s diary, the one that Brad had been reading from. Without a second thought, Stanley pushed himself towards it, snatching it up off the floor and stashing it under his jacket. Surely Sydney would want it back, and even if she didn’t, it was safer with him than it was here where anyone could pick it up. Not to mention read it. If she’d written about everything then no one could find out. 

Stanley forced himself to his feet, only to almost fall over again. Brad’s body didn’t have a head.  _ How the fuck? _ Now that he’d noticed it, he couldn’t look away. There was so much blood pooled on the floor. Flowing outwards, as if Brad’s head had exploded. 

Dina was sitting on the floor next to Brad’s headless body, her dress mingled with red, splattered like paint. Stanley looked around him, trying to find Sydney in all of this mess, but she wasn’t there. Had she …

He couldn’t even fathom the thought. Sure, she’d knocked all those trees down, and sure she’d almost hit him with those balls at the bowling alley, but she’d missed. She’d never actually hurt him. She’d never actually hurt anyone. Let alone ...

He swallowed, shutting his eyes tight and trying to forget the image. Well, she must have. The evidence was right there in front of him. He was shaken back to reality by the sound of Dina starting to sob, the shock seeming to wear off all at once. Even if he didn’t know her that well, it hurt to see her like this. 

Stanley approached her, careful not to startle her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, hoping it would be of some comfort. “Dina,” he muttered. 

She looked up at him, mascara starting to run down her cheeks. “How did he -” she broke off, unable to finish the question. 

He didn’t even have an answer for her, hadn’t been conscious to see it. Stanley couldn’t stop himself from glancing at Brad one more time, feeling nausea twist in his stomach as a result. Well, he couldn’t say that Brad didn’t deserve it after coming for Sydney like that. Maybe that was a cruel thought, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t care right now.

Stanley squeezed her shoulder, to hold Dina’s attention. “You can’t do anything for him now,” he said, trying to keep his voice level. Really he sort of wanted to scream, and somehow he could tell that she did too. 

Dina grabbed onto his hand, nails digging into his skin. Stanley didn’t even flinch.

“Dina, we have to find Syd.”

She shook her head. “I don’t … understand,” she whispered, wiping at her eyes with her free hand. “Nothing happened he was just - he was here and then he -”

He nodded. So it  _ was  _ an explosion then. Maybe he should be grateful that Sydney pushed back when he suggested testing her powers again. “We should go. We don’t need to be here,” he suggested.  _ We have to find Syd. _

Dina took a few deep breaths, trying to steady herself, and then let go of his hand. Stanley released her shoulder and helped her to her feet, Dina clutching onto his arm for balance. However unsteady she was, the two of them managed it. 

Stanley quickly shrugged out of his blazer, offering it to her to cover her bloodied dress. She smiled faintly as she accepted. It flogged her even more than it did him. “Did you see where she went?” he asked.

“Who?”

“Syd.”

“Oh.” Dina shook her head, tightening the blazer around her. “No, I didn’t. I think she - she might have run off.”

Stanley nodded, and then indicated the doors. “We should -”

He didn’t even need to finish the question before Dina nodded in response. 

Stanley led her across the parking lot, avoiding the people that were clumped together, shaking and crying in shock. He could hear the sounds of sirens in the distance, and knew that couldn’t be a good thing. They had to leave. Now

“Do you have any idea where she would go?” he asked, as he unlocked his car and slid into the driver’s seat. 

Dina jumped into the passenger side, and then paused. Her hand hovering over the jacket. “What’s in -” She pulled out the dairy and then went very still. “Oh,” she muttered.

“I had to bring it. Just in case.”

She nodded. Stanley opened the glove box, and Dina dumped it in there, closing it again quickly. “This is a lot to take in,” she muttered. 

He couldn’t blame her. 

“I guess she might have gone home?”

_ Not if she was covered in blood. _

Dina shook her head, as if her own answer wasn’t right. “No, that’s not - not with Liam there. She wouldn’t.”

Stanley tapped at the steering wheel, trying to think but his mind was all over the place. Where the hell could she have gone? Also, how was he going to talk to her about this with Dina there. There’s no way he was going to say anything about Sydney’s secret, but she’d need Dina. That’s what best friends were for. Or at least, that’s what he thought. 

“Does she have a hide out?” he asked. “Somewhere she could just go to?”

Dina shook her head. “Not really? When she needed somewhere she would just come to my house, but I guess she hasn’t been doing that lately.”

Stanley couldn’t help but feel sorry for Dina, and the guilt that was lining her words. “It’s not your fault,” he found himself saying. “None of it.”

“Thank you.”

Something passed between them, a moment of understanding. They were just two people that cared about Sydney, and that was that.

The sirens were getting louder. Stanley pulled the car out of park, not thinking about where they were driving to yet, just knowing that they needed to get out of there as quickly as they could. “Keep thinking while I get us out of here.”

“She can’t have gone far, right?” she asked, “if she was running.”

At this point, Stanley thought Sydney was capable of anything. “I don’t know.”

Dina sighed, rubbing her hands over her eyes. “I don’t know why she’d need to run,” she admitted. 

“I think she needed to cool down.”

“Right. Of course.”

They each took a shaky breath, the pressing silence between them stark against the flurry of motion outside. Stanley pressed at his radio, forcing whatever tape he’d left in there to fill up the space between them. Dina breathed in, closing her eyes and letting it wash over her. 

“Have you thought of anywhere?” He was tempted to drive to the forest, and just wait until he found another bank of flattened trees, but he wasn’t sure if Sydney would do that again.

Dina shook her head. “I can’t really think at all,” she admitted. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok.” 

Something caught his eye, tall and rising above the rest of the buildings around them. The tower that he’d pointed out the first time he’d driven with Sydney. Stanley, jerked the steering wheel, skidding and only just making the corner. Dina let out a cry next to him.

“I know where she is,” he said.

***

Stanley’s mind was racing, as he turned off his headlights and headed down the dirt road towards the tower. It was dangerous driving like this, he knew that, but he couldn’t startle Sydney. He could only imagine the state she was in, and he didn’t want her to think someone was following her. Well, more than usual at least. As he pulled the car into park again, everything felt too quiet, too heavy. He could hear Dina breathing next to him and just about nothing else. 

“Stan?”

Stanley paused, half way through reaching for the handle and launching himself out his car. “Yeah?”

“Did you know?” she asked. There was a weight to her voice, the words layered with a meaning that he couldn’t quite pick up on. 

He met her eyes, trying to figure out what she was asking. “Know what?”

“That Syd’s in love with me. Or whatever.” Her tone was tight, like she was still coming to terms with the thought. 

_ What? _ He went over everything in his mind. Sydney keeping her distance, the two of them never really being a thing. Even when she’d told him about how she’d kissed someone else at the party her words had been careful. He’d just assumed it was another guy.  _ Oh _ . 

It made sense, almost too much, and Stanley had to push down any hurt that he felt at the thought. For Dina’s sake. He swallowed. “No, I didn’t,” he managed.

Dina’s eyes turned sad. “You really like her, don’t you?”

He shrugged. “We’re better as friends.”

She smiled faintly. “That’s what she told me. Before -” she cut herself off, squeezing her eyes shut. 

Stanley took the distraction and looked away from her. His hands tightened on the steering wheel, letting out as much as he could through the small motion, and then he let go. “Alright,” he muttered. “We need to go up there, but I need you to stay out of sight for … safety reasons.”

“Safety reasons?”

As much as he didn’t want to tell her anything about Sydney’s powers, whether that was to selfishly keep something of Sydney for himself or not he had no idea, it kind of sucked having to talk around this. “She could be, I don’t know, mad?” 

Dina raised an eyebrow at him. “Mad? Yeah, I would be too.”

“Dina, please, just trust me on this.”

“Fine,” she sighed. “Are we gonna go up there now or what?”

The two of them jumped out of the car, careful not to slam the doors as they closed them. Quietly, they creeped their way to the tower and then up the stairs, both breathing hard. Once they’d reached the top, Stanley reached a hand out to stop Dina in her tracks.

“Wait here,” he whispered. “Please.”

“Shouldn’t I talk to her first?”

He shook his head. “Trust me.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, staring him down, but then just rolled her eyes instead. 

In any other circumstances, he probably would have smiled at her. Instead, Stanley turned and headed straight for the doorway. Turning the corner, he saw her. Sydney had pressed herself against the railing at one end of the balcony, knees drawn to her chest. She looked at him as he stopped in the doorway. 

“Stan, what the  _ fuck  _ are you -”

“I know you’re scared,” he said, holding a hand out in front of him, as if he were taming a wild animal. 

“Scared?” her voice cracked. “I just -”

He nodded, trying to cut her off. “I know.”

“You need to go,” she said, her voice rough with the tears that were flowing freely from her eyes. “Stan, I could hurt you too.”

“You won’t. I know you won’t.”

She shook her head, pulling at her hair. “You  _ don’t  _ know that.”

“Syd, if you were gonna hurt me you would have already.” Either in the forest on the bowling alley. It didn’t matter where. He knew she wasn’t a threat to him. “I’m not scared of you,” he added for good measure.

“I am, but I bet you  _ know  _ that too.” Her tone was biting. She laughed, but it came out bitter, and she buried her head in her hands. 

This was killing him, really. “How can I help you?” he asked, and he didn’t mean it to sound as desperate as it did. 

“You can’t help me.”

“Just … tell me what you need then.”

“I need you to go away!”

She hadn’t meant to yell. He knew she hadn’t. Stanley took a deep breath. This was fine, she could take it out on him if she needed to. As long as it helped. God, he needed to help her. 

“Stan, this is -” she broke off. Sydney pulled at her hair again, before looking up at him, one hand clasping around the dog tags around her neck. “This is just how my dad felt. I know it is.”

They hadn’t talked about her dad enough for him to know what she truly meant, but the mention of him worried Stanley beyond measure. How he felt as in before he -

Something caught his eye, Dina was waving to get his attention, making frantic gestures that he was too on edge to decipher. He turned back to Sydney. “What if Dina was here?” he asked, and watched as Sydney froze up. “Would that help?”

Her eyes were wide, and he watched her try to make sense of what was happening. “Did you -”

“I haven’t told her anything,” he cut in. “I promise your secret’s safe with me.”

Sydney looked at him, as she let go of her dog tags. She swallowed. “Where is she?”

Within a few seconds, Dina had rushed out of her hiding spot and down the balcony to Sydney. She dropped to the floor, and pulled her best friend into a hug, both of them in tears again.

Stanley couldn’t help but feel out of place. He wasn’t sure how to be of comfort, especially when Dina seemed to already have that covered. Maybe he should just leave …

“Stan.”

Dina was wrapping his blazer around Sydney’s shoulders. 

“Come sit with us?” Sydney asked, and almost smiled. 

Stanley almost smiled back. He crossed the balcony and sat on her other side, leaning into her because he needed to. She let him.

“You got any weed?” Dina asked, laughing when the two of them just looked at her. 

“Jacket,” Stanley smirked.

Sydney reached into the blazer and pulled out the small tin, handing it to him.

He opened it easily, taking out his lighter and sparking a joint. He held it out to the two girls. Dina took the first hit, then handed it to Sydney. As she took hers, Dina burrowed into Sydney’s side, taking her hand in hers. 

“What are we gonna do now?” Sydney asked, as she passed the joint to Stanley.

He wasn’t sure what exactly she was referring to, or if it was everything all at once, so he just shrugged in response. “We’ll think of something.”

“Are we ok?” This time the question was aimed at Dina.

Dina smiled at her, and kissed her cheek. “We’re ok,” she nodded.

Sydney blushed, ducking her head. She waited for Stanley to shove the tin back into his pocket, and then reached his hand too. “Are  _ you  _ ok? That punch must have hurt.”

He shrugged. “Does it matter?”

She squeezed his hand, as if to say ‘yes.’

“I’m ok.”

Sydney nodded, and then took a deep breath. “I should tell her,” she said.

“Probably,” he admitted.

Dina perked up, sitting up straighter. “Tell me what?”

The two of them shared a look.  _ Here we go _ . 

**Author's Note:**

> I just felt like this is how the season should have ended, you know?  
> Y'all can find me over at [stranger-awakening](http://stranger-awakening.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr if you like!  
> Comments, kudos, etc are appreciated. Stay safe everyone


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